Why Jeremy Siegel is bullish on stocks: Speech live blog recap

Jeremy Siegel, who has been dubbed the \”Wizard of Wharton,\” delivered a keynote speech at ETF.com\’s Inside ETFs conference in Hollywood, Fla., at about 5 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday.

MarketWatch live blogged the speech by Siegel, a professor of finance at the Wharton School of Business known for his books such as \”Stocks for the Long Run.\”

6:22 pm

Overall in this speech, Siegel offered up reasons why he’s bullish about U.S. stocks.

He indicated valuations don’t frighten him. He went over views that he’s aired before about why you shouldn’t put too much stock into one particular valuation metric — Shiller’s CAPE ratio.

The professor also suggested sentiment isn’t over the top, saying he’s not hearing about people touting stocks at dinner parties. He also mentioned CNBC's ratings dropping as another sign of investor sentiment staying in check.

In addition, Siegel's comments showed he isn’t a big fan of gold.

Some key quotes included:

“My belief is this bull market has some space to run."

“There is no bubble here." That was followed by a joke (paraphrased): All these people that talk about bubbles believe an asset class is in a bubble if the price is going up and they don’t own it.

Siegel didn’t specifically talk about that 18,000 level for the Dow Industrials that was mentioned in the conference agenda item for his speech.

Thanks for checking out this coverage of his speech. You can follow your live blogger on Twitter @vicrek — where I just posted a photo of Siegel surrounded by fans after his speech.

6:01 pm

There's quite a line to ask him a question, with people getting photos with him and following him toward the exit.

6:00 pm

Wow, Siegel fans have flocked to him after his speech.

5:56 pm

Siegel: all the regulation, all the laws, made them move away from equities.

He calls it "insanity" and regulators deserve much of the blame.

That's all for the speech.

5:55 pm

The question is about pension funds being underfunded, going into bonds too much.

5:54 pm

One last question, says Nadig...

5:54 pm

Siegel is sounding a professorial and comedic note now.

He said he’s often asked — why is cash on a corporation’s balance sheet discounted?

“Because management can do something crazy with it,” he says.

That gets a laugh from this audience of finance enthusiasts.

5:52 pm

Getting back to what Siegel is saying in the Q&A, Siegel continues to sound a bullish note, saying stocks haven't run too far.

"I don't see any of the classic signs," he says.

Not on a valuation basis, people not talking about stocks at dinner parties.

He mentions that CNBC ratings are lower as a sign that there aren't excesses -- why "there's juice left."

5:50 pm

Getting back to the subject of CAPE, if you want to read more about that concept, check out what Meb Faber has to say.

If those people own the asset, then it's not in a bubble -- it's fundamentals.

5:03 pm

"There is no bubble here," Siegel says.

All these people that talk about bubbles believe an asset class is in a bubble, if the price is going up and they don't own it.

That gets a laugh from the crowd.

5:02 pm

Are we getting too pricey?

He shows a chart showing the S&P 500”s median PE (for 1954 to 2014) is 16.5.

The latest PE is 17.2

5:01 pm

He says people describe 6.7% as Siegel’s constant, but says this asset class’ mean reversion is second to none.

5:00 pm

Total real returns on asset classes -- he's showing a chart on that, says it's an important chart.

Stocks annual average real returns are 6.7% over the last 210 years, topping the returns for bonds, gold, dollar.

4:58 pm

He's pitching his books: "Stocks for the Long Run" also "The Future for Investors"

4:58 pm

Siegel is taking the podium.

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